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Public Health

Through the work of the council and its partners, and through the engagement, passion and commitment of Newcastle’s communities, public health will become a driving force in improving wellbeing and health and reducing health inequalities in our city.

What is the council doing?

As a council, we have lots of responsibilities for improving the wellbeing and health of people in Newcastle. From 1 April 2013, our role became even bigger as we took the lead for health improvement in the city.

We are well placed to embrace this challenge, given our existing work, unique knowledge of the future needs of the population, and our ability to influence a wide range of issues which affect wellbeing and health. For example, we know that transport around a city, or the house you live in, can contribute to your physical, emotional and financial wellbeing.

Health improvement involves taking action to create a society where everyone has positive wellbeing and good health. It includes work on things you’d expect - like diet and nutrition, tobacco and alcohol, physical activity, drugs and substance misuse, sexual health, pregnancy and children’s health. But it is not just about service delivery - it’s also about building wellbeing and health into everything we do as a city – such as creating jobs, shaping neighbourhood life and tackling inequalities.

To help us in this expanded role, the Public Health team have transferred into the council from the NHS. The public health team have specialist knowledge in fields such as health intelligence, health protection, health improvement and health and social care quality, so they are ideally placed to help us build on our past achievements.

Consultation May 2016 – July 2016

Review of 0-19 Children’s Public Health Services

As part of the 2016-17 budget setting process, the Council consulted on its plans to undertake a service redesign and develop a new service specification in order to commission a 0-19 integrated Healthy Child service which would encompass both the School Nursing and 0-5 Health Visiting Service – with the intention to deliver both efficiencies and better streamlined services and outcomes for children and families.

This review included a full health needs assessment and consultation with current providers, current and potential service users and the public. The feedback from this consultation and the Health Needs Assessment informed our proposals for the future commissioning and service delivery model for 0-19 Healthy Child Programme, which we consulted on during July 2016.

Review of Sexual Health Services

As part of the 2016-17 budget setting process, the Council consulted on its plans to undertake a whole system commissioning review of sexual health provision across the city, including services and interventions delivered across: primary care; secondary care; and community level.

This review included a full health needs assessment and consultation with current providers, current and potential service users and the public. The feedback from the consultation and the Health Needs Assessment informed our proposals for the future commissioning of the sexual health services, which we consulted on during July 2016.